Tomato Tasting 2013 "Stupice"

The 1st tomato tasting for 2013, even though the first tomato of 2013 was the cherry tomato, Gold Nugget. Stupice is a new tomato for me. Nearly every other Pacific North West (or North Wet as we like to call it) tomato grower I know already grows Stupice, but I stubbornly stuck to her sister Siltz, which is still one of my favorites. Normally tomato season in the PNW does not start until late July but in this exceptional year, I picked my first vine ripe Stupice on June 30th. That is probably earlier then I will get ripe tomatoes in the coming years. Gold Nugget's first was on June 15th. In normal PNW years the first Gold Nugget does not get ripe until the last weed of July.

Catalogue Description

60-65 days. This cold-tolerant tomato ripens sweet, red, slightly oval, 2 inch fruit that make an excellent choice for first-of-the-summer salads, lunch boxes, and juicing. Stupice consistently gets high marks for taste throughout the summer. Pumps out fruit over the entire season. Bred in the former Czechoslovakia. Indeterminate potato leaf variety.

Territorial Seed Company

Score Card:

Eye Appeal

• At A Glance: Poor little Stupice does not look like much. The apricot I was snacking on was larger then the tomato I was scoring.
• Size: Bigger then a cherry tomato but too small to call a slicer. Stupice is often described as "golf ball size" but since I do not golf, I have to say that they are about the size of an apricot.
• Shape: Globe
• Color: Deep orange-red to bright red.
• Inside: Surprisingly meaty for such a small tomato.

Taste:

• Texture: Silky. The skin looked tough but seemed to be tender in my mouth.
• Fresh off the vine: Stupice is just slightly on the acid side, but just slightly. I might call the flavor, "bright"
• Sliced and salted: Salt brings out just a hint of classic tomato flavor, slightly sweeter then the unsalted taste.
• Cooking thoughts: Already this year (2013) I have been chopping (quartering really, it is very small) Stupice and adding it to guacamole with Gold Nugget cherry tomatoes. Stupice is not too "wet" for guacamole, even though I don't scoop out the gel (a tedious job due to the small size). The bright flavor leads me to think that I can toss ripe Stupice tomatoes into zipper bags to freeze whole and add frozen to sauce and soup in winter. Gold Nugget and Stupice are abundent this year. I think they will be good raw with cold angel hair pasta, fresh mozzarella, basil and an olive oil and balsamic dressing.

Will Deb grow this one again? Yes. I need to find out how Stupice preforms in a "normal" PNW summer.

The Song of the Sea; Sh'mot (Exodus) 15: 1-19

Impossible!   In order to move forward, Israel would have to swim across a sea. To turn back they would need to pass through an army of soldiers filled with blood lust.

Isra'el did what many of us do when it seems there is no hope. They called upon YHVH (the LORD) then turned around and blamed Moshe/Moses for their trouble. (Sh'mot/Exodus 14: 10-11) The swords they carried out of Egypt (Sh'mot 13:18) gave them no sense of power. But YHVH had an unexpected plan for their salvation.

Moshe and Isra'el crossed the sea on a path of dry land. It is said that this was their baptism. The Hebrews emerged on the other side as a new man. Those who would force them to be slaves, mired daily in clay for bricks, were now mired in the wet sea bed. The very Egyptians who had also forced them to drown their first born, drowned in the sea. The children of Isra'el and the "mixed multitude" emerged from the path through the water as one new man. Halelujah!

If therefore the Son Should free you, truly you will be free men.Yochanan 8: 36 (25)

Moshe and the people of Isra'el sang a new song, the Song of the Sea. Reading through it I am filled with praise. Listen to what is said of YHVH our Elohim / The LORD our God.

YHVH is:
Highly exalted... (1)

...my strength and my song..
..my salvation (my y'shua)..
..my Elohim/God: I will glorify him
my father's Elohim: I will exalt him (2)

...a warrior (3)

His right hand (where Y'shua/Jesus sits) is sublimely powerful
...it shatters the foe. (6)

His great majesty brings down His enemies
His wrath consumes them like stubble. (7)

A blast from his nostrils and the waters piled up -- they stood up like a wall (8)

Another blast and the enemy was covered by the sea, they sank like lead in the mighty waters. (10)

...sublime in holiness, awesome in praises, working wonders.. (11)

In love, You led the people You redeemed;
in strength, You guided them to your holy abode. (13)

...by the might of your arm (the enemy) is still as stone until You people pass over...
...till the people you purchased pass over (16)

You will bring them in and plant them on the mountain which is your heritage, the place that you made YOUR abode, the sanctuary which your hands established. (17)

YHVH will reign forever and ever. (18)

Sing to YHVH, for He is Highly exalted!
The horse and its rider he threw in the sea! (21)

Deb.... who cannot get that song out of my head.
"I will sing unto the LORD for He has triumphed gloriously, the horse and rider thrown into the sea
The LORD liveth, and blessed be my rock and let the God of my Salvation be exalted... "